diff --git a/git-secrets b/git-secrets
index a2f16ac..7079ae2 100755
--- a/git-secrets
+++ b/git-secrets
@@ -176,6 +176,8 @@ pre_commit_hook() {
   while IFS= read -r file; do
     [ -n "$file" ] && files+=("$file")
   done <<< "$(git diff-index --diff-filter 'ACMU' --name-only --cached $rev --)"
+  # when the file list empty, then don't all the scan, otherwise it will start scanning entire repo
+  [[ -z "${files[@]}" ]] && return
   scan_with_fn_or_die "scan" "${files[@]}"
 }